thenearshore | it's silence that you fear

Entry tags:

it's silence that you fear

Who: Yoruichi and Gojyo, Yoruichi and Zangetsu
What: fighting in one, flirting in the other. questionable decisions in both
When: 4/11, 4/12
Where: the Near Shore
Warnings: will update if needed

The Near Shore; Gojyo

[Yoruichi slips through the nighttime crowd, easily evading those who don't notice her enough to make room on the sidewalk. There's barely-leashed energy in each purposeful stride, her eyes dark and shuttered.

She'd known better. But knowledge isn't always enough to kill hope. Using the shrine to travel to the living world (or the Near Shore as they called it here) had been easy enough. Finding her way through a Tokyo with slight but noticeable differences had been a little harder.

But making her way to what should have been Karakura, staring at the office building that should have been Kisuke's store, well. Even if it had been expected, it didn't make the blow any easier to absorb.

How long will it take before her loved ones realize she hadn't just left on her own?

After that, going back to a mostly empty house is out of the question. She'd walked aimlessly for a while before gravitating towards one of the entertainment districts, weaving through knots of people on the sidewalk as music and lights stream from open doors. Truly enjoying herself may be out of the question, but she can at least look around for something to distract her for a while.]

The Near Shore, Oya's shrine; Zangetsu

[The shrine, such as it is, is tiny. It's a little structure tucked away in a corner of a park, its wood dark and faded. The floor and altar are covered in dust and scattered detritus; dried leaves, a cracked clay cup and the desiccated husk of what might have been an eggplant once. Watery light seeps in through the layer of dirt caked on the one small window high above the altar.

Given Nami's need for order, Yoruichi plans on bringing her along next time to help straighten the place up. She still doesn't like the idea of having someone bound to her so they can't say no, but since she's never cleaned anything in her life, she figures she might as well defer to someone with talent in the area.

Just then, something skitters over her senses--oily and tainted and pulsing. A split second later, ayakashi show up, pouring over a small rise towards her. One leaps at her face and she smacks it aside, letting out a hiss at the blight that now blotches her hand.]

Shit.

[It's a reminder that she can't simply fight the way she's used to; her strength alone isn't enough to win this. She leaps into the air, hovering just above them to give herself some breathing room. Running is an option--but what about the humans out in the park? They'd stand no chance against these numbers.

So she drops back to the ground and takes off, drawing them away from the last few evening stragglers in the park. Outrunning them isn't an issue, not with her speed--she just hopes this buys her enough time to come up with a plan.]

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[ If there's one thing that's worse than feeling totally adrift, Gojyo is discovering, it's feeling totally adrift while trying to keep a bunch of other people afloat with you. It's like he told Sanzo (before that whole evening went to shit): he's just not built to be a leader. He's not the kind of guy who makes good decisions. He needs a team around him, friends... even family. But his friends and family are mad at him, and his house is an echoing cavern haunted by the spector of a man who once tried to kill him. Heaven is full of children, and the only other place he can go -- Japan -- is full of people who don't see him.

But at least drinking in the middle of a crowd is slightly less pathetic than drinking alone. He's managed to buy himself a big bottle of beer (damn thing is nearly the size of his forearm!) -- paid for it and everything. Wandering through the streets, he finds himself gravitating toward some of the louder clubs, with the brighter flashing lights -- nothing like what they had back home. He's just about to fall into one and get lost for the evening when he spots a familiar face on the far side of the street. ]

Hey! [ Shouldering his way through the crowd he jogs across the street, nearly bouncing by the time he gets to Yoruichi's side. ] Fancy meetin' you here!

[Gojyo catches her off-guard--she'd gotten so used to people ignoring her, that she hasn't bothered to make the effort to conceal her expression. For the briefest moment, her eyes are distant and a little sad, her mind still on the world she'd been forced to leave behind.

But then Gojyo's presence registers, and mild surprise gives way to a small, but growing smile. She can think of worse company to fall in with; if nothing else, his inevitable flirting will draw her mind off other things.]

Hey yourself. Are you on your way somewhere?

[ He doesn't see anything but her smile. ]

I was just thinkin' about taking advantage of bein' basically invisible and checkin' out some of these places. [ He waves across the street back the way he'd come from, where one club dominates the block, its lights brighter, its crowd posher, its line longer than any other. ] And I was just thinkin' about how much nicer that would be with some company.

[ He's not exactly dressed for any of these places, but that won't stop them, right? After all, they're gods -- there have to be some perks! ] And here's company!

[There's something refreshing about Gojyo. He's open and cheerful and straightfoward, and after spending so much time in her own head since arrival, it's a nice change.

Her faint reserve drops away for the moment, and she flashes a grin up at him. She's not dressed for clubbing either, but since when has she ever bothered with formality?]

What the hell. Let's go see what all the fuss is about, hm?

[ She said yes! His grin lights up even brighter, and he celebrates with a swig of his giant bottle of beer. It's pretty terrible beer, but there's a lot of it and it's not grape wine, so he's not going to complain. ]

Here, you want some?

[That is the biggest bottle of beer she's ever seen. Still grinning, she nonetheless eyes it askance. From the whiff she'd caught, it's not likely to agree with her.]

No thanks.

[Yoruichi doesn't drink all that much, but when she does, she usually sticks to plum wine. It's about all she can stomach.]

Is that actually any good?

Edited 2016-08-05 23:29 (UTC)

Nope! [ He takes another hearty swig -- at least it goes down easy? Also yes, this means he offered her a terrible drink, but it's in the spirit of friendship and sharing and shit like that, okay? Don't stress the details. ]

This might be the worst beer I've ever had in my life. [ Shall they start heading toward the club? ] And I've had some bad beer. We got a case this one time... fell off th'back of a truck, you know [ --he adds, conspiratorially. ] ...and we were excited because it had a shark on the label. It's gotta be good with a label like that, right?

[ In case she can't tell, the answer to that deeply rhetorical question is not yes. ] It had friggin' cilantro in it! Who th'hell puts cilantro in beer?

[Gojyo's commentary washes over her as they make their way across the street, dodging groups of people animatedly talking and preening, some of the women tottering on heels that make Yoruichi's calves hurt just to look at them.

Her lips twitch in amusement at the story of Gojyo's crappy stolen beer.]

On purpose? Maybe they were just making sure their cases stay on the truck next time.

[She snickers, eyes lighting up as she remembers a similar story.]

There was this one bar at home where the owner spiked his sake with wasabi when one bottle too many went missing.

[ It's like wading through a sea of clashing colognes. Gojyo's pretty sure that the cloud of stink is visible, so he does his part to contribute and leaves a trail of cigarette smoke behind. It smells better than some of these guys do, that's for damn sure. ]

Wasabi? Oh that's cruel! [ And brilliant! He makes a mental note to try that trick on somebody soon. Maybe Kenren. Kenren seems like the kind of guy who'd eventually find it funny. ] Hey, hey, did you ever try that one with litte flakes of gold in it? That one burns too, but in a good way!

[ Are they bonding? They seem to be bonding. ]

[She purses her lips in thought, then grins.]

The stuff that tastes like cinnamon? Once, a long time ago. [Like most of her adventures in alcohol sampling, she has Urahara to thank for it.] It's a little intense for me.

[Yoruichi slows as they approach the doors, then sidles up next to a group of club-goers at the front of the line, ensuring she and Gojyo get in with the next group granted entry. After a brief glance, the girls immediately forget about their new companions and turn back to each other, chatting excitedly about some singer they'd seen the other week.]

I tried this stuff made out of honey once, though. I liked it more than I thought I would.

Honey? Oh, that sounds good. [ The man at the door professionally examines the giggling crowd of girls they've slipped in with, making sure they're cute enough and well-off enough to be seen at a place like this. Gojyo and Yoruichi don't even get a first glance, much less a second. They're waved through en masse, the girls immediately peeling off to the right to check their makeup in the restroom, while the vast velvet-lined doors at the end of the hall call out to Gojyo.

He whistles, taking in the overdone glamor of the entryway, with it's weaponized ostentation. It's even glitzier than his temple! ]

This place is somethin' else, huh? Did you have places like this back where you're from?

[The dull thump of music is muffled by said doors, and Yoruichi looks around, curious. It's pretty gaudy, but it seems to suit the crowd she'd just waded through.]

Yeah, where I live now. [She says it absently, peering at the decor. She'd have agreed with the description of it as weaponized--it's clear that only a certain kind of clientele is welcome here, and this place aims to remind you of it every step of the way.

Yoruichi could give a damn about their standards--despite undoubtedly exceeding every last one--so she starts down the hall, heading straight for the main event.]

I've never been to one like this, though.

[ Where she lives now? ] You mean your temple? [ He nods, his eye caught by a naked golden cherub that's way better endowed than any baby should be. This place, man. ] Yeah, my temple's kinda like this too.

[Yoruichi goes still for a moment; in another woman it might have been a flinch. But it's gone in less than a second, and a sardonic smile twists her lips.]

I mean the Tokyo back home. That's where I was living before I got here.

[Because as lovely as it is, the temple isn't home. To her mind, she's just staying there, not living there. Home doesn't have a gently implacable, eerily silent shinki or a needlessly surly water buffalo.]

No, my temple's a lot simpler than this. It's on the beach.

[She flicks the fabricated leaves of a potted fern that drapes over a gleeful satyr carved in marble.] And all my plants are real.

[ Hey, he's a Greek god, the ancient Greeks had a thing about putting dicks on everything. He'd respect it if it weren't so... there's not even a word for it. Dicks. Everywhere. He's removed most of them, but... ]

Wait, did you say you're from a different Tokyo?

[ The bass is pounding away on the other side of the doors, and there's a crowd of businessmen heading their way, looking to drop their most recent paychecks on four hours of bright lights and tinnitus. Gojyo wants to hear her answer, but the salarymen push through, and then they're in the club.

It's very red. Red lights, red plush, red costumes on all the staff. Immediately in front of them is a vast dance floor, with a DJ booth off to one side, and a dimly lit bar at the other. Wide stairs lead up, probably to the dining area (and who knows what else). It's very red, and very loud.

Gojyo's in love. ]

This is great!

[Yoruichi's saved from responding by their arrival in the main space. Man, if the entry hallway had been gaudy, this is even more so.

But it's loud and alive and mindless in just the way she'd been looking for. The air is heavy with body heat and alcohol, the dance floor packed with people moving with abandon.

A smile playing on her lips, she draws in a long breath, shrugging off her jacket to reveal her sleeveless, high-necked top. Gojyo's looking around, taking in the scene with a wide grin. She tugs on his sleeve, tilting her head towards the bar as she starts to make her way across the room.

Might as well take advantage of being invisible and grab a bottle of plum wine.]

[ God, look at the women here! Just look at them! Half of them are barely wearing anything at all, and the way they're dancing...

Yoruichi tugs on his sleeve and with a delayed responce he turns. Oh, yeah, drinks. He nods -- talking in here isn't really possible, is it? -- and he hands off his mostly full forty to the next guy who passes. He wants real beer, dammit!

...Not that they'll be served. He taps Yoruichi on the shoulder this time, and points to a clear spot on the bar. Want to go up and over and raid the top shelf?

It's good to be a god! ]

[Gojyo's proving himself a man after her own heart. She grins in response, then jumps up onto the bar. A brief pause to let the bartender pass, and she's jumped to the back counter, landing as lightly as if she'd gone from one step to the next.

She slings her jacket over one shoulder, then looks over at Gojyo, her lips pursed in mild irritation. In keeping with the opulence of the rest of the place, the liquor shelves tower over the bar, with white and blue lights glowing behind frosted glass. Even standing on the counter, she's still too short to reach the top shelf.]

[ Oh, whoops. Sorry about that -- he should have realized. Gojyo hip-slides over the counter (and looks damn good doing it, if he might say so himself!), reaches up for the higest shelf... and frowns, because it's even out of his reach. ]

What the hell!?

[ How expensive must the stuff up there be, if the bartender can't even get to it without a stepstool or something? He's got to try it now! ]

Climb up! [ He turns his back to Yoruichi and pats his shoulder. She's athletic enough to climb onto his shoulders, right? He's pretty sure she will be. ]

Get th'big one! The big one!

Edited 2016-08-17 15:33 (UTC)

[Honestly, getting up there isn't an issue for Yoruichi--her annoyed look had been due to sheer principle. She can all but fly, so the few feet to the top of the shelves would be like walking up a couple steps for her.

But far be it for her to pass up ~~a handsome man between her legs~~ using a grown man as a stepladder. She climbs Gojyo like a tree, settling on his shoulders with ease. She snags the one he's pointing to, quickly handing it down.]

Hang on, let me--[She reaches for a likely-looking bottle of plum wine, figuring if it's all the way up here, it must at least be decent.] Got it! Let's get out of here.

[Because they're hard to notice, not impossible, and Yoruichi would rather not ruin the night by having to fight their way out of the club.]

[ That's what he figured: she's limber as fuck! He lets himself briefly daydream about other ways her strength and bendiness might make for a good evening, but all too soon she's snagged the bottle she wants and they need to scram. The only person who seems to have noticed them is the very stoned-looking kid who Gojyo nearly kicked in the head on his way over the bar (and it's really anybody's guess if he's actually looking at them or at something his mind has made up for him)... but it's better not to risk it.

He stoops a bit to let her dismount onto the bar (as much as he would have been otherwise happy to just let her sit up there all night), then he jumps the bar himself and points up the stairs. He's got no idea what's up there, but isn't she just dying to find out? He sure is!

Maybe it's a tiger. Places like this have all kinds of weird shit set aside for their rich assholes customers, right? ]

[Yoruichi hops down from his shoulders as easily as she'd climbed up, then jumps down from the bar to follow him up the stairs. There are a couple of burly guards on either side of a velvet rope, but they're easily side stepped.

Once upstairs, the decor is even more opulent. Expensively-dressed men and women lounge in private booths, while attentive staff serve them liquor in crystal glasses that probably cost more than someone's rent.

And set into two of the walls are large aquarium tanks full of colorful and exotic fish. They float by, unconcerned with the antics of the people surrounding them.

It's quieter up here too--the music still's driving and bass heavy, but you can at least have a conversation over it.]

This place is ridiculous. [But it's said with a wide grin that makes it clear she's not troubled in the slightest.] Let's grab an empty booth. [Yoruichi points towards one that's tucked away, where they're less likely to be noticed.]

[ Fish aren't tigers. He's very disappointed. Really.

The fact that the empty booth at the end has the fishtank as one of its walls is going a long way to salving that disappointment.

Gojyo slides into the leather booth, face right up to the tank like a kid. ]

Wouldja look at that! [ They're all so pretty, and so weird looking! The only fish he's ever seen have been either emple koi or brown river fish destined for the fire, okay, these are kinda amazing. ] You think they're real?

[ Gojyo looks kinda cute with his face all lit up like that. It's an open glee that's far from the suave persona he makes such an effort to keep up otherwise. ]

Of course. [ Coming up on her knees, she slides next to him, pressing a finger to the glass. A small fish with wispy, feathery fins approaches, its orange and red coloring almost making it look like it's on fire. ]

This place prides itself on exclusivity. They can't have the same crap you can walk in and get at the fish store down the street.

[From the thick of a forested part of the park comes a loud whirring noise, then the unmistakable sound of a Cero being fired. The red beam of light cuts through the underbrush, illuminating the ground below and the trees above. The beam collides with the ayakashi giving chase to Yoruichi, and explodes in a burst of hot, red light. It seems to do more damage to the unfortunate plant life in the immediate vicinity than the ayakashi themselves, but those that take a direct hit are done for.

The Hollow that fired it charges out of the trees, jumping up into the trees and from branch to branch. Some of the ayakashi peel off from the group, turning towards the new threat. Zangetsu jumps from the tree, blade sheathed in black and red flame, and brings his sword down on the monsters.

All very impressive, but without being in sync with a God, the ayakashi remain.]

GodDAMN these things!! DIE ALREADY! DIE DIE DIE!

[That furnace blast of reiatsu hits a moment before the cero does, and Yoruichi's head jerks up to see Zangetsu leap down from a tree. She spins to face the ayakashi, who are now scattered but not taken out. A hit of that force would have absolutely taken out the majority of the group had they been small Hollow of similar strength, so while she doesn't yell out her frustration like Zangetsu, she certainly understands it.]

Hadou no 58; Tenran! [She extends her hand, palm out, firing a cyclone blast that tears through the ayakashi, but once again, doesn't harm them.

But it buys Yoruichi and Zangetsu some time.]

Neither of us can kill them on our own! But I'm here without my shinki.

[Not knowing enough about this world yet, Yoruichi has no idea that more than one god can name a shinki, or the stigma against it.]

[Such a shame. A power that could tear through the heavens itself and rip holes into the fabric of Hell couldn't take out a few measly monsters, and all because of some annoying cosmic law. It was some utter horse shit. He could cut these things to ribbons and they'd simply reform as if nothing had happened.]

Tch... and Jin ain't here, either. He's out lookin' for chickens or some shit. I wanted to test out if it was true that I really couldn't kill these assholes on my own! [turns out it was true after all. Nothing makes him more angry, and the negative energy swirls around him like a dark flame.

It would have been nice if either of them had gotten a good orientation, but that wasn't the case]

If you give me a name and shit, can we kill these damned things?! Jin'll understand. He better.

[Yoruichi's head whips around, eyes wide and startled. She knows how to name him--one of the first things she'd done after finding out it was possible was to practice with Nami, just so she's never caught off guard again.

But now it's happened anyway, and the only shinki around is someone else's. No matter. It needs doing, and if Zangetsu's god has a problen with it, she'll help him deal with it.

There's no sense asking him if he's sure--if they don't do this, there's no telling how many lives they'd put at risk. Yoruichi's not about to let that happen because it might hurt someone's feelings.

What to name him comes to her in an instant. Despite the Hollow before her, she still sees the boy he'd been.]

All right. I name you Shuki!

[Shu--to protect. A fitting enough tribute to her student.]

Edited 2016-08-10 18:25 (UTC)

[Zangetsu could not care less about the humans in the park. But like hell he was going to let his quarry escape him now. Not after he’d tracked it this far.

Protector. Shuki. It works for him. The kanji appears in a blaze on his forearm, mirroring the kanji for “white” on his other arm. Named, and now bonded to Yoruichi, his death is apparent in flashes of images, sensations, and sounds.

Ichigo, bruised, bleeding, and utterly beaten, his sword laying in pieces near him. Standing above him, an imposing figure. He places a hand on Ichigo’s head and there is a blinding pain, a sensation like his life being sucked right out. A jumpcut to a different location. A vicious storm rages in the sideways world, and what appears to be a huge black hole, a vortex, has opened in the sky. It pulls away chunks of buildings, shards of glass, and amidst the chaos, Ichigo’s white clone, the spirit of his sword, struggles to hold on. He digs his nails into the glass of the skyscraper, leaving deep marks and blue blood. His feet and then legs flake away like old paint, sucked into the darkness.

"Dammit... Sorry... Partner... I'm not sure how much longer I can hold on...!"

The panel of glass that he’s anchored himself to dislodges, and sends the sword, the Hollow, flying into the vortex with a scream that is both terrified and furious.

Another cut, to Ichigo lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood as the man from before steps through a portal. He himself is not dead... but his spirit is so broken, he might as well be.

It’s a short, but brutal memory. The death of a Zanpaktou is not so much a bang, but a whisper. Being there one moment, and gone the next. Such is the life of a spirit born of another.

The moment passes like a flash, and Zangetsu no longer stands next to Yoruichi. Instead, there’s a pure white katana in her hand, almost as long as he was tall. A short length of chain dangles from the hilt. A mask has formed over her face, but unlike Jin, there is no accompanying desire to utterly annihilate everything.

Just a sensation of incredible, hot power, like a furnace burning deep inside.]

Now's our chance! Don't leave a single trace of these things!

Edited 2016-08-11 02:24 (UTC)

[For a few brief moments, she's immersed in the memory of Zangetsu's death. Ichigo, bloody and broken at the feet of a man she only knows of from classified files of a war fought long before she'd been born.

How had this happened? When had this happened?

Ichigo falls, but doesn't die, and his Hollow is brutally stripped from his body. Relief that her student isn't dead is tempered by the knowledge of his pain and loss. But there's no time to dwell on the memory, not when they're faced with the enemy in the here and now.

Naming Zangetsu is different from naming her soulless shinki. There's a brief moment of alarm when the Hollow mask appears on her face, but it quickly fades when she realizes she's still in control of herself. A sword appears in her hand, simple and spare; but for the color, it's a dead ringer for Ichigo's bankai. His power is like a deep well of heat and fire, contrast with her own warm and steady pressure. But her reiatsu sharpens and rises in anticipation of a fight, like the searing blast of desert wind.

She hadn't gotten to fight before, but she's not going to waste her chance this time.]

Shut up, brat. I've been fighting since before you born. [Her words are lazy, almost cheerful, as she tightens her grip on the hilt.

Ichigo's bankai, huh? Well, she knows just what attack to use.]

Getsuga Tenshou!

[She draws the hilt back, slashing it through the air in a quick, wide, movement. A blast of their combined power slices through the gathered mob of ayakashi; this time, even those just grazed by the attack are killed instantly.

The remaining Ayakashi scatter, rattled by the fact that their easy prey has proven anything but. Yoruichi lets out a sharp, satisiifed laugh.]

Not bad, kiddo. Let's go get the rest.

[Questions. So many questions that the sword-spirit could answer had he not been so unceremoniously stripped of his memories. He'd happily go on and on about Ywhach and his stupid plans and his stupid cheating way of fighting and how completely and utterly ridiculous it was that the man was allowed to exist at all. He'd probably never shut up about it.

(Maybe THAT'S why they take the memories of Shinki? To prevent long winded, angry rants? ... Maybe.)

As for Ichigo, wherever he was, he wasn't dead yet. But he'd been without his powers before, and he was little more than a shell without them. But he'd probably be relieved to know that his powers weren't going to waste, and that they were doing what they were meant to do; protecting. ]

Keh. Not with a weapon as powerful as me! I'm strong! I'll be the strongest shinki these assholes have ever SEEN!

[bright electric energy coils with black hellfire in the crescent-shaped blast, and the ayakashi didn't stand a chance]

Woah... that's a powerful attack. It's mine, isn't it? I can feel it. Hahahahah!! Not a single one of you is getting out of here alive!!

[The way the Ayakashi bolt in all directions might be a problem for most, but with her speed, she's not worried about missing any.

She launches into shunpo, moving so quickly she leaves afterimages of herself as she goes after the stragglers. Getsuga Tenshou is a fine wide-range attack, but using it now would eventually level the park.]

Yeah, it's yours. We can probably do better with practice.

[They can refine it, make it more precise and less prone to destroying the whole area--Ichigo has more raw power than Yoruichi, but she knows she has more control.

Despite the unfamiliar blade, Yoruichi's movements are practiced and lethal, cutting down the small targets with unerring skill.]

[speed, AND area of effect. Between her agility and his raw power, none of them would have anywhere to hide.]

Then we'll have to practice a lot!

[training is fun, after all. As long as you're going all out. He laughs wildly as they chase down their prey, enjoying it as much as if he were doing it himself]

You can run, but it won't matter~!

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it's silence that you fear

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